ESPN anchor goes full blown SC on Towing company, outrage ensues

[Crazedclerkthe2nd]

ESPN personality Britt McHenry has been suspended by the network after a video surfaced of her berating a Towing company employee. Here are some snippets of what she said. See how many SCisms you can find...

- “I’m in the news, sweetheart.”

- “I will fucking sue this place.”
- “That’s why I have a degree and you don’t.”

- “I wouldn’t work in a scumbag place like this.”

- “Makes my skin crawl even being here.”

- “Yep, that’s all you care about is just taking people’s money. With no education, no skill set, just wanted to clarify that.”

- “Do you feel good about your job?

- “So I can be a college dropout and do the same thing?”

- “Why? Because I have a brain? And you don’t?”

- “Maybe if I was missing some teeth they would hire me, huh?”

- “‘Cause they [the employee’s teeth] look so stunning … ‘Cause I’m on television and you’re in a fucking trailer, honey.”

- “Lose some weight, baby girl.”

Of course she has since apologized for her actions, but I can guarantee she wouldn't have felt ANY remorse for them (and may still not) if that video hadn't leaked.

People like this really gall me. It's like "ok, you went to college, you've had a good career, you're successful, that's awesome, but WHY do you need to be a douche and look down upon people who, for a wide variety of reasons, are not as successful?"

For it's part, the towing company does NOT want McHenry fired for her actions:

“Parking enforcement is contentious by nature,” the company said in a statement released Friday. “At the same time, neither Gina, our lot clerk, nor our company, have any interest in seeing Britt McHenry suspended or terminated as a result of her comments.

“As a small business, we saw no benefit to releasing the video except to highlight personal attacks employees in jobs like towing, public parking enforcement and others sometimes encounter. The video was not licensed or sold to anyone.”

[Gravekeeper]

Ehhh....some of her comments are definitely over the line. But for some perspective, the company in question is a borderline criminal shit hole of an operation. There's stories about them going back in the news several years because they basically just steal people's cars ( often damaging them in the process ) the moment they get out of them. Even if their dog is in the car. Or their children in one case ( and the guy only unhooked the car after the children started crying ). Hell, even the employee that McHenry is ranting at has a number of complaints that specifically mention her. Plus the video is edited so we don't know what it was that the employee did to drive McHenry into a froth.

Oh, and they have an F rating with the BBB. >.>

Which I bet is why they're trying to get out of the public eye now as quietly as possible.

[Andara Bledin]

Just because the tow company is a bunch of assholes doesn't give the woman who's car got towed the right to be verbally abusive.

There are ways to deal with such things, and that is not one of them.

Hell, if she had a brain, she would have worked her clout to get something done about the towing company's practices. Instead, she just lost it and lost any power to get things fixed for the better.

[Rageaholic]

You know, I initially thought Britt McHenry sounded absolutely despicable. Now that I'm hearing the other side, including some yelp reviews of the towing company, I don't know who to side with.

[Hyena Dandy]

You know, I initially thought Britt McHenry sounded absolutely despicable. Now that I'm hearing the other side, including some yelp reviews of the towing company, I don't know who to side with.

You can have two assholes in one room. :P

[Rageaholic]

Here's some exerts from the yelp reviews.

The second time they towed was from the parking lot of a restaurant we were at. We were in the restaurant the entire time. They claimed their spotter (btw...creepy.) saw us leave the property and cross the street. They had a fuzzy picture of three... beings... At the corner and claimed it was us (...we have a two-seater car.) The restaurant we were at called and vouched for us that we had not gone anywhere. The lady at Advanced told us "(restaurant) has a history of lying for their customers to us to get them out of paying"
Ummmm... Wtf? Maybe the restaurant just has a history of you towing their legitimate customers!

There are already enough reviews on here to describe how I feel... But my story is as follows: parked in a spot w no signs or yellow curbs indicating I would be towed, bought a sandwich, and came back to my car missing. This company clearly knew that this spot was very tricky and camped it. I was only gone for 10 mins max. I am including the pic of where I was towed in this review. $135 for parking in what seemed to be a normal spot... See y'all in court!

Their glorious service to humanity includes: 1. Almost towing away a small sick child and his teenage step sister as their Dad ran into CVS (Legally parked)
2. A man who didn't see a partially covered sign had his car towed with his dog inside. The dog could have suffocated from lack of air for several hours stuck at advanced towing's lot. 3. The overall attitude of the clerks is devilish to say the least.

I wouldn't even put1 star! This place does not deserve it!! My roommate and some other ppl I know from my building were parking at that plaza ALWAYS!!!
There we go I parked there few times before never got towed! So I called this Company to ask about policies and how does driver differs cars! Since no cars had permits! So this miserable woman picked up the phone and started talking rude to me! Almost yelling! Wth??? I'm a customer and have some questions since my car got towed and she started yelling at me? Idk her name was either Gina or Tina but she needs to learn how to talk to ppl!!
I'm not gonna let it go! Writing complain!

(BTW Gina was the woman the reporter was yelling at)

If this is all true, these assholes deserve all the hate they get until they stop their underhanded tactics.

[Andara Bledin]

Just a note, but obscured signs are just as enforceable as unobscured signs.

The whole towing with people in the car, though, is massively illegal, and they need to be reported every time they hook up a car with occupants because that's a major safety violation.

If people would just file complaints appropriately, they'd get fined out of existence.

[Gravekeeper]

Just because the tow company is a bunch of assholes doesn't give the woman who's car got towed the right to be verbally abusive.

Well, the problem is the employee in question seems to have a rep for being verbally abusive herself. But that footage hasn't been released. -.-

The whole towing with people in the car, though, is massively illegal, and they need to be reported every time they hook up a car with occupants because that's a major safety violation.

According to police, in the last 2 years alone the company has had 155 complaints and 15 legal violations. Including towing cars with people's pets inside and the aforementioned trying to tow a vehicle with children inside. When the children started crying, the guy unhooked the car took off.

As for fines, not a single towing company in Arlington has been fined since 2006 when the city instituted new towing laws. Those laws don't allow the police to fine towing companies unless the victim presses charges and is wiling to go to court.

So the company acts like shitlords banking on the fact no one will is willing/able to take them to court just to have a fine levied.

[Aragarthiel]

According to police, in the last 2 years alone the company has had 155 complaints and 15 legal violations.

You forgot to mention, those 155 complaints are TWICE as many as all other local towing companies COMBINED.

From the complaints I've seen, most come from people who park legally in a single shopping center (usually going to the same restaurant) and get towed within minutes. That's most definitely predatory.

[Rageaholic]

Well, the problem is the employee in question seems to have a rep for being verbally abusive herself. But that footage hasn't been released. -.-

Some are speculating that the attendants part has been edited out. I normally don't go for conspiracy theories, but it would explain why we only hear Britt McHenry's tirade. If these assholes will tow people's car with their pets and children in them, I wouldn't put it past them to manipulate video feed.

[AccountingDrone]

As for fines, not a single towing company in Arlington has been fined since 2006 when the city instituted new towing laws. Those laws don't allow the police to fine towing companies unless the victim presses charges and is wiling to go to court.

So the company acts like shitlords banking on the fact no one will is willing/able to take them to court just to have a fine levied.

Heh, if I had the time and money, and link with a lawyer in area I would consider going down and stinging them. I have no problem with making court appearances. I probably wouldn't have to do much of anything to get them towing me while I am legally parked. That restaurant sounds like an excellent location for a sting.

I have very little sympathy for people who park illegally and whine when they get caught. I personally hate it when I can't find good parking, but I have never gotten a parking ticket or been towed in almost 40 years of driving. [sheesh, 3 more years and I will have had a license and car for 40 yeas ... my next license renewal actally]

[Aragarthiel]

I probably wouldn't have to do much of anything to get them towing me while I am legally parked.

Just go find the shopping center I mentioned above and go to Boston Market. Bonus points if you leave an animal or teenager in the car, and more bonus points if you spot a red truck with a winch (wench?) on the back.

[wolfie]

How long until they tow the wrong person? Fun fact: one of the items on the pre-trip checklist is worded so that ANY operable wheeled vehicle has (by the letter of the law) an out-of-service condition. I can imagine a DOT officer having their personal car towed, and proceeding to conduct level 1 inspections (take about an hour each) on tow trucks entering and leaving the yard (with orders "park it and wait for me to get to you - not giving you a chance to correct violations" for those that come or go when he's inspecting one). Naturally, ALL their trucks are OOS for "Tire in contact with any vehicle component other than a mudflap".

The industry's trend to replacing hydraulic power steering with electric leaves the potential for more fun. In a few years (let them age and get cheaper), someone who's REALLY pissed off could get a "junker" RWD with electric PS and make their own "bait car". Park it in such a manner that it's easy to get at the back end, and follow in another vehicle while it's being towed. At the worst possible moment, hit the remote control for the steering - can you imagine the driver trying to explain to a cop why the car he was towing sideswiped the cruiser?

[Hyena Dandy]

I know I posted before, but, you know, still thinking.

I definitely gotta say, she was out of line. However awful the towing company is, she WAS out of line. She said really bad things. But I think it's also a case where a simple apology should be enough to move on. After all, she was pissed off, yes, and probably said stuff she didn't mean. She also had her car towed by a company that, apparently, doesn't really care if they should or even CAN tow your vehicle, and have employees who are outright rude to workers.

I was recently at a locksmith, and the guy manning the desk made a comment on the phone that he couldn't leave for something yet, because there was a customer, and described me as "Some long haired jackass who looks like he's stoned." I'm not the type of person who acts out when I'm pissed off, but I was very tempted to say something rude back. But he was on the phone, whatever. If I HAD said something rude, though, that would have been out of line. And I would probably want to apologize for it, even if he was being a jackass too.

[Titi]

I would have taken her side but this http://incidentaljustice.blogspot.co...orter-for.html (In which a woman posted on twitter about female sports journalists being taken seriously instead of as models, because you know they went to school and earned the job same as men) and this http://www.brobible.com/sports/artic...women-twitter/ (you will see some of the first post on their scroll down and see the rest.)